Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Fallen by David Maine

First sentence:

"The mark burns upon him all the time now."

Description:

"Once expelled from the Garden, Eve and Adam have to find their way past recriminations and bitterness to construct a new life together in a harsh land. But the challenges are many for the world's first family. Among their children are Abel and Cain, and soon the adults must discover how to be parents to one son who is everything they could hope for and another who is sullen, difficult, and rife with insecurities and jealousies. In the background, always, is the incomprehensibility of God's motives as He watches over their faltering attempts to build a life. In Fallen, David Maine has drawn a convincing, wryly observant, and enthralling portrait of a family -- one driven (and riven) by passions, jealousies, irrationality, and love. The result is an intimate, in-depth story of brothers, a husband, anda wife -- people whose struggles are both completely familiar and yet utterly original." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This was a compelling story about Cain, Abel, Adam, Eve and the rest of the family. I liked how the story went backwards in time starting with Cain's imminent death and ending with Adam and Eve leaving the Garden of Eden. I also liked how David Maine stretched out the story line so that Cain's offering being rejected isn't followed immediately by his murdering Abel.